Wagon-tongue support.



No. 630,243. Patented Aug. I899. J.- c. LAMBERT.

WAGON TONGUE SUPPORT.

(Application filed Oct. 21, 1898.)

6N0 Model.)

WITNESSES. lNV NTOf? amp/4W a? fi- M A 770/?NEYS.

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mi uonml min UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN CALVIN LAMBERT, OF TONIOA, ILLINOIS.

WAGON-TONGUE SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,243, dated August 1, 18 99.

Application filed October 21,1898. Serial No. 694,183. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN CALVIN LAM- BERT, of Tonica, in the county of La Salle and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved IVagon-Tongue Support, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved wagontongue support which is simple and durable in construction, not liable to get out of order, and arranged to properly support the tongue in any desired position, so as to relieve the horses necks from the weight of the tongue and at the same time permit of free up-and-down movement and similar adjustment to readily adapt the tongue to large or small animals.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan View of the improvement,

and Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1.

The tongue A is mounted to swing near its rear end on a pivot B, carried in the usual side bars of the frame 0, attached to the front axle D of the wagon in the usual manner. 0n the tongue A and beyond the rear of the pivot B is secured a holder E in the form of a curved guideway for engagement with a friction-roller F, carried on the forward end of a slide F, fitted to move longitudinally in a guideway G, hung on eyes H, secured to the cross-bar G of the frame 0. A spring I is coiled on the slide F and rests with one end on the guideway G, its rear end abutting against a washer and nut J, screwing on the rear threaded end of said slide F, which is preferably in the shape of a rod having a head at its forward end, as is plainly indicated in Fig. 1. The head of the slide F straddles the holder E, and the friction-roller F engages the front curved side of said holder, said friction-roller normally resting in the upper end of said holder to support the tongue A in a horizontal position.

When it is desired to lower the tongue A,

it is swung downward, as shown in dotted lines atwin Fig. 2, to cause the friction-roller F to travel on the inner face of the now uption by reason of the action of the springpressed friction roller F on said holder. WVhen it is desired to hold the tongue A in an upward position, then the tongue A is swung upward by the operator to the position shown in dotted lines at y in Fig. 2, the friction-roller F engaging the upper end of the holder E, but with the slide F and the guideway G in a lowermost position-that is, with the guideway G swung downward from the eyes H as the fulcrum.

The guideway G can be lengthened or shortened and for this purpose is preferably made in sections G G of which the section G is made of U form, with the middle portion as a bearing for the slideF and with the side arms secured by bolts G to the other section G fulcru med on the eyes H. The adjacent faces of the sections G G are notched, as at G, as plainly indicated in Fig. 1, to hold the sections against longitudinal movement, and when it is desired to lengthen or shorten the guideway the bolts G are removed and the sections are moved inward or outward one upon the other, and then the bolts G are reinserted in correspondingly-registering apertures G. The curve given to theinner face ofthe holder E on which the friction-roller F travels is downwardly and rearwardly, as plainly indicated in Fig. 2, so that the tongue A is held in any desired position into which it is swung by the action of the spring-pressed roller F engaging the said face.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the tongue A is free to swing upward at any time to avoid a stiff tongue, and at the same time the support holds the tongue in any desired position to relieve the animals necks from the weight of the tongue. Furthermore, the

tongue can be adjusted to large and small animals, and when the wagon passes into an inclined position or lower portion of a road then the tongue A still retains its position relatively to the animals.

It will be observed that my holder E presents a closed guidcway, so that it always keeps the roller F therein and does away with any necessity of putting the roller back into the guideway.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and .desi re to secure by Letters Patent- 1. An automatic wagon tongue support, comprising a closed holder on the fulcum end of a pivoted tongue, a spring-pressed slide having one end engaging said holder, and fitted to move therein to hold the tongue in position at any desired angle, and a pivoted guideway in which the said slide is free to move, substantially as shown and described.

2. An automatic Wagon tongue support, comprising a holder on the fulcrum end of a pivoted tongue, a spring-pressed slide engaging said holder, to hold the tongue in position at any desired angle, and a pivoted guideway in which the said slide is free to move, said guideway being made in interlocking sections longitudinally adjustable upon one another, substantially as shown and described.

3. An automatic wagon tongue support, comprising a holder on the fulcrum end of a stantially as shown and described.

,4. An automatic Wagon-tongue support,

comprising a holder secured on the end of a pivoted tongue, a spring-pressed slide engagin g said holder whereby to hold the tongue at differentv angles, and a guideway in which said slide is held, said guideway being formed in sections having serrated inner faces and apertures whereby to receive bolts, as shown and described.

JOHN CALVIN LAMBERT. Witnesses:

GEORGE W. HARTENBOWER, GEORGE SEIDEL. 

